fuel

*Disclaimer: This post was kindly sponsored by Nestlé YES!
The snack bar market has come a long, long way since my childhood days when the Tracker bar ruled the roost. Its ingredients? Sugar, palm fat, sweetened condensed skimmed milk, glucose syrup, palm kernel fat, emulsifiers – you get the pretty unappealing picture. Back then little attention was paid to the ingredients of such bars and pre-made meals et- cetera. Taste was what mattered most and consumers weren’t so nutrition-savvy as to question what ingredients they were ingesting. Thankfully, nutritional awareness has been and continues to grow which can be seen in the expanded range of healthier snack bars, supplements and healthier food alternatives that are now on the market.… Continue reading...

Wake-up
I woke up at 6AM after a very sound solid night’s sleep. Funnily enough I didn’t feel nervous. Perhaps it was the hormones casting me into a daze or perhaps it was blissful ignorance of what was to come. Having had ten days off I think I’d forgotten some of the challenges of training and running long distances! But either way I felt good and ready to run. The forecast for the race was 23°C which I knew was on the warm side but I was prepared with a cap and sunscreen and just counted my lucky stars it wasn’t extreme conditions like the freezing rain that hit Boston Marathon earlier this year or the 28°C that was forecasted a day later.… Continue reading...

I arrived in Berlin on the evening of Thursday 13th September – two days out from my first ever marathon. On Friday I walked the two miles from my hotel to the start line situated within Tiergarten park by the infamous Brandenburg gate. I wanted to know exactly where I was going on race day and start psyching myself up for the ever nearing 26.2 miles.
My coach, Jane Vongvorachoti, had advised me to save energy so after seeing the start area I caught a bike cab to save my legs, had a super healthy lunch at Avocai food and Pilates studio and then took a taxi to the expo.… Continue reading...

Thinking about the super delicious, super nutritious food we were treated to on the MBFR week in Verbier makes my mouth water BIG TIME! We were completely spoiled with a very talented chef who never failed to keep us very happy and fuelled with superfoods so we could maximise our performance when it came to training.
Think fresh, hot, crunchy coconut and almond breads for breakfast, eggs, avo, chia seed puddings, porridge, fruit, smoothies – the health foodie DREAM!
Lunch was packed for us and contrary to the usual sarnie and chocolate bar lunchbox, ours looked like this…
As for dinner…
As you can see from this small taster (pun intended) of what we ate, the food was wholesome and we weren’t deprived.… Continue reading...

So it seems everyone wants to know more about what I ate and what supplements I took whilst doing my Victoria’s Secret challenge. I wrote about the diet in my Daily Mail article where I also explained that, coupled with the intense training regime, it made me feel exhausted and ill (I got frequent colds).
A few months after the Daily Mail article was published I wrote a following article in The Mail on Sunday’s You Magazine, expressing my concern that many women were still coming to me and asking for my detailed nutritional plans whilst I was on the regime– despite me warning of the negative health implications and making it clear that it was unsustainable.… Continue reading...

For all those times when I’m in a rush and want to hit the gym but need some fuel to give me the energy to have a great workout – shakes are my saving grace. They are super simple to make and absolutely delicious, especially with Bioglan’s Skinny Greens Vanilla protein powder which is made with pea protein meaning it’s suitable for any diet plus it’s easy to digest. Apart from being delicious, quick and easy to make, the beauty of shakes is that you don’t have to wait an hour or more to digest them – you can go and workout almost immediately after consumption and the protein also keeps you fuller for longer than if you just had a shake without the protein.… Continue reading...

I wanted to post some recipes for all those who may be on a strict protein and fat only diet. While I would never recommend this diet to be sustained for the long-term, being a journalist, I’ve experienced several fitness institutions and nutritionists who prescribe the no-carb diet for a short-term weight loss solution. This is perfectly fine to maintain for a short while – but do get advice from a health professional before you embark on it. This will ensure you’re still giving your body everything it needs to maintain good health.
I’ve been on this diet for the past several weeks (for a special article out soon in The Mail on Sunday) and I have to admit, having to munch solely on meat, eggs, cheese, oil, nuts and green veg does get slightly tedious.… Continue reading...